Technical Field
This disclosure relates to medical instruments and more particularly to electrocardiograph (ECG) equipment and display/interpretation of ECG signals.
Description of the Related Art
An electrocardiograph (e.g., a 12-lead diagnostic device) generates a report called an electrocardiogram. An electrocardiograph (ECG) signal is a 10 second snapshot of the electrical activity of the heart. The electrocardiogram or ECG report includes patient demographics and ECG interpretation in text format on top of a piece of paper with the ECG signal trace shown on a bottom portion of the paper. The orientation of the paper is generally landscape.
An interpretation of the ECG report through an analysis of the ECG measurements is provided. The interpretation is a set of statements, one statement per line, which describes clinical conditions that can be detected from ECG measurements. Under this interpretation, a severity (e.g., “normal” or “abnormal”) is included, which is an overall summary of the ECG interpretation.
With today's cardiographs, monitors and defibrillators, a diagnostic representation of ECG leads is only known to be available on a printed strip of paper from a strip chart printer. An ECG lead is the signal measured between two ECG electrodes or one electrode and a combination of electrodes making up the voltage reference for the first electrode. These devices do not have the ability to display ECG leads with the appropriate resolution and with a grid for calibrated time and amplitude measurements for diagnostic use. The use of strip chart printers in the field is not ideal because the printed strips can be easily lost or damaged, and the printers do not always offer reliable performance. The size of the print area on the printed strips is also limited. For users, especially those who are not experts, the reasons for each element of the ECG interpretation may not be clear from the printed strips of the 12-lead ECG.